Jesus is the Lord  of Sabbath <Mt 12:1-14>

- eg heart, conscience (do we feel agonising regrets from doing wrong), souls, bodies 

Rest comes when we are forgiven, and empowered - we can't find real rest outside Jesus (the Lord of rest)

“AT THAT particular time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to eat. [Deut. 23:25.] And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the Sabbath. He said to them, Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who accompanied him–[Lev. 24:9; I Sam. 21:1-6.] How he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread–which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only? Or have you never read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless? [Num. 28:9, 10.] But I tell you, Something greater and more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here! And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless. [Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13.] For the Son of Man is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:1-8‬ ‭AMP‬‬
http://bible.com/8/mat.12.1-8.amp

“And going on from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?–that they might accuse Him. But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days. Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one. But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, how they might do away with Him.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:9-14‬ ‭AMP‬‬
- Jesus is rebuking the senseless law-keeping Pharisees (they themselves don't understand the word of God correctly, so they create adverse reactions to gospel, putting God on bad light)

1. Law without love > against God's will
   • Distract from Lord of Sabbath, obstruct display of love (thus ignore the person who needs help, eg withered hand)
   • A lot of people label to be acceptable to God because they yearn for blessings from Him. But take note - God's grace is given to us before we do anything! (You don't deserve grace, but it is given to us - you cannot earn)
2. Love surpasses law
   • Law gives us a clear understanding of ourselves -> so we know how much we have missed the mark 
   • God gives us law to protect us 
   • The essence of law is to promote loving God and men
   • His love surpasses law (because he knows we cannot fulfil the law, that's why he himself fulfill the requirement of the law, by sacrificing Jesus) -- if we accept this, only then we can have real rest
   • Because of this, law can make exceptions out of love
   • But doesn't mean we ignore law altogether. Check our hearts so that we do not fall into the 2 extremes