The depth of His teaching outlined the premise that a relationship with the Father is an eternal foundation to build upon. Some teach that there are spiritual roads or paths (in behavior) by which you can follow that will take you to heaven. Teaching that what you do by following a particular ritual or “fit, form and function” as a way or method to deepen your relationship with God is a grave mistake, a false teaching.
Yeshua taught if you love God, you would obey the commandments. Then the principle is obedience and it outweighs sacrifice as stated in Mark 12:29-34:
"And one of the scribes (teacher of the law) came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He (Yeshua) had answered them well, asked Him, 'Which is the first commandment of all?' And Yeshua answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.' And the scribe said unto Him, 'Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God and there is none other but He: And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.' And when Yeshua saw that he (the teacher of the law) answered discreetly, he said unto him, 'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.'"
He reaffirms the principle of obedience to the commandments as crucial for developing a relationship with the Father again in Matthew 15:2-15, "Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, came to Yeshua, saying: 'Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.' (No divine law had been transgressed, only a ceremonial tradition regarding ceremonially clean verses unclean hands before eating.) But He (Yeshua) answered and said unto them, 'Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honour thy father and mother: and, he that curseth (his) father or mother, let him die the death.' But ye say, 'Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.' Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” (Tradition had supplemented the law with burdensome interpretations so burdensome that devices had been implemented to neutralize them. But in neutralizing them, they had in effect done away with the original law, by allowing instead the grown children to “pledge to the altar” the means to care for parents and avoid honoring/caring for their parents at all.) Yeshua went on to warn: “Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” And He (Yeshua) called the multitude, and said unto them, “Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man (with ceremonially unclean hands) but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” (What comes out of the mouth comes from the heart.)
