Acts 4:1-4

"While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees.  These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.  They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.  But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children."

Observations:

The first thing that I find interesting here is that Peter and John were speaking.  They weren't sitting around waiting for "the opportunity to share their faith."  They pursued opportunity rather than expecting or hoping for opportunity to pursue them.  We Christians spend so much time waiting for "opportunities."  The result is that, when an opportunity comes, we are so surprised and unprepared that we completely blow it!  We need to stop waiting for opportunities to come to us, and we need to start making opportunities.

Another observation is that Peter and John's speaking disturbed some people. There were people around who were annoyed and irritated by what they were saying. People were irritated by the gospel in the first century and people are still irritated by the gospel in the twenty-first century.  There will always be people who are annoyed by the gospel, but that is not reason enough to withhold from sharing it.  

The controversial idea being taught by Peter and John was that Jesus literally rose from the dead.  The way the apostles spoke of Christ's resurrection, for me, is strong evidence for the reality of the event.  Would these men go to prison, suffer excruciating pain, torture, and even death for something they knew was a lie?  If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then why would these men devote their entire lives, traveling across the known world, telling people that He did?  There were other men before Christ who claimed to be the Messiah.  They accrued a following, but they all eventually faded away - and died.  Jesus was different.  Jesus rose from the dead.

Even though Peter and John were taken to prison, many who heard their message believed.  Since they were taken to jail, Peter and John probably didn't even get to see those who believed nor how many.  Even when we are faithful, we do not always see the fruit of our labor, but we can trust that God will accomplish what He wants to accomplish.  Our labor in the Lord is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).