Zacchaeus is a very important character in the Bible because he is

a concrete example of a sinful man who was changed by Jesus

Christ’s compassion over sinners.
He was known as a corrupt tax collector who collected more than
he should have collected. Because of this, he had a negative
reputation in the community.
When Jesus was passing through the City of Jericho, Zacchaeus
became very excited to see Him. However, since he was very short,
he could not see Jesus from the crowd.
To solve this, he climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view of
Jesus. Jesus saw this and called at Zacchaeus to come down from
the tree. Jesus then added that He intended to stay at Zacchaeus’
house to which Zacchaeus happily accepted.
However, this did not please the crowd and made them question
Jesus’ decision of associating Himself with a sinful man like
Zacchaeus.
Nevertheless, Jesus stilled pursued staying at Zacchaeus’ house
and, as a result, changed the course of Zacchaeus’ life.