Those who questioned Jesus' teaching authority could show a diploma proving their own authority; Jesus could not. But is the diploma the only authorizing element? Or does a diploma automatically make you a good teacher? Instead of confronting his own authority with that of the official teachers of Israel, Jesus invites them to judge on the authority of a third party - John the Baptist. If Jesus could show no diploma, what diploma could a boy who grew up in the desert show? And yet the Doctors of the Law remain cautious: "We do not know" - they answer. Why? "We have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet". It was the people that stated John's teaching authority, and the official teachers acknowledge with fear the people's opinion. Now, what do this same people say about Jesus' authority? Right after his first sermon on the mountain, "His teaching made a deep impression on the people, because He taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes" (Mt. 7:29). They give Jesus an oral diploma, and declare the official diplomas of the scribes invalid. The question is answered: Who gave Jesus authority? The same people who gave it to John the Baptist.