In the Gospel, Jesus does act as the anointed one of God., the Christ. He exercises the mercy and compassion of God in pronouncing the woman free from her sin. He recognizes the meaning behind the women’s symbolic actions – her weeping, her kisses, her anointing of His feet. He acknowledges her change of status from sinner to a restored daughter of God.
We are the people of the new covenant, which has been sealed by the blood of Christ, poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. Like that woman, we have been freed by Christ from the power of sin and have been changed. Through our baptism and confirmation, Christ, the Anointed one of God, has anointed us with God’s Holy Spirit. But that anointing does not work by magic. It is in our own power to nullify the power of that anointing by seeking our own pleasure, our own will rather than placing ourselves under the rule of God. But the woman in the Gospel shows us that transformation is possible, if we cooperate with the grace of God.