Why did Jesus spend so much of his time with the poor and the sick?

Why did Jesus spend so much of his time with the poor, the sick, the lame, the leper, the outcast? Was he making a point? You must remember that Jesus himself was a literal, physical embodiment of a spiritual reality: God. Thus, the way he walked this earth, the people with whom he interacted, and the manner of his interactions, are also a physical manifestation of a spiritual reality. Jesus declared it himself: he came not for the healthy, but the sick. So Jesus sought out the materially poor to tell them and show them how they could be rich spiritually, in the Kingdom of God. He sought out and healed the physically sick and lame not only to display his power and authority, but also as a picture of how the gospel of God brings healing and wholeness to the soul. So what should we take from this? Well, a lot. However, one thing we should definitely glean from this is that the physically healthy and the materially rich must be careful that in enjoying their health and lavishing themselves with their wealth they do not wrongly believe that this in any way changes the sickness or lameness of their souls, and does not in any way diminish their desperate state and utter hopelessness apart from Christ and his atoning work. This is why Jesus said he came for the sick, and why he spent most of his time with the poor. Without Jesus, we are all hopelessly sick and we are all desperately poor. However, because of the slavery of sin and the deception of the current ruler of this world, the healthy and wealthy can be easily blinded to the sickness of their souls. As a result, health and wealth in this world, from a Kingdom and eternal perspective, are much more often a curse than a blessing. “For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul? What would a person give in exchange for their eternal soul?” Apparently for most of us an eternity of Hell is a small price to pay for a few years of unsatisfying pleasure and empty toys. Have mercy to open our eyes, Lord Jesus, to see beyond the fleeting beauty of external trappings into the ugly sickness in our souls, that we might find lasting beauty and pleasures evermore through your glorious grace. Amen.