Jesus came to the house of a sinning tax collector. A "little despised" man in the community.
Paul has the best sight on this matter, for spiritual dissection purposes. I agree with John, that tax collectors were despised and still are, I believe. Not fond of them myself and keep a wide berth.
1 Corinthians 1:
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
The account of Zacchaeus ties in very nicely with Paul above on many counts. There is actually a lot more that can be said about the account that meets only the literal eye as well. The crowd blocking his sights, his diminutive stature, the sycamore tree, his desires to see Jesus, all bear meanings in the spiritual beyond the literal, as do the after effects of what happened.