These things pertaining to the pesach-offering override the Sabbath: its slaughter; throwing of its blood; removal [of the offal] from its entrails; and the burning of its fats. But its roasting and the rinsing of its entrails do not override the Sabbath.  Carrying it, bringing it from outside the Sabbath limit, and cutting off its wart do not override the Sabbath;  R' Eliezer says: They do override [it].

Said R' Eliezer, “But is this not a logical argument! If slaughter [of the pesach] which is [Scripturally prohibited as] a labor overrides the Sabbath, [then] these which are forbidden [merely] because of a Rabbinic prohibition, should certainly override the Sabbath!”  Said R' Yehoshua to him, “Let [the] festival [laws] prove [this], for on it they permitted labor, but forbade on it [what is proscribed] because of Rabbinic prohibitions.”  R' Eliezer said to him, “What is this, Yehoshua? What proof [can be adduced from] a permissible act to a mitzvah?”  R' Akiva responded and said, “Let `sprinkling' prove [this], for it is a mitzvah, and is [forbidden] because of a Rabbinic prohibition, and does not override the Sabbath; so you should not wonder about these, that even though they are a mitzvah, and are [forbidden] because of a Rabbinic prohibition, they do not override the Sabbath.”  Said R' Eliezer to him, “But about this do I apply my logic. If slaughter which is [forbidden] because it is [categorized as] a labor overrides the Sabbath, [then] sprinkling which is [forbidden only] by Rabbinic prohibition should surely override the Sabbath!”  Said R' Akiva to him, “Perhaps the opposite [is more correct]? If sprinkling which is [forbidden] by Rabbinic prohibition does not override the Sabbath, [then] slaughtering which is [forbidden] because it is [categorized as] a labor should [surely] not override the Sabbath!”  R' Eliezer said to him, “Akiva! You have uprooted what is written in the Torah: In the afternoon ... in its appointed time [Numbers 9:3], [which implies] both on weekdays and on the Sabbath.”  Said he [R' Akiva] to him, “My master! Give me an appointed time for these which is like the appointed time for slaughter.”  A general rule was stated by R' Akiva: Any labor that can be performed on the eve of the Sabbath does not override the Sabbath. Slaughtering, which cannot be performed on the eve of the Sabbath, does override the Sabbath.