The answer
Our Lord Jesus Christ was not claiming to be God; He is in fact God. He is one with the Father. This was not a misinterpretation of the Jews but a clear statement from Jesus Christ. Notice that in Jn 14:20; Jn 17:10-21 our Lord was talking to His own disciples not to the Jews.Repeating the same sentence at different occasions is a proof that our Lord wanted to emphasize the truth that He and the Father are one. This is His own teaching to the disciples and this is the message that He wanted them to understand and to preach to the whole world.
His unity with the Father is different than our unity with Him since His unity with the Father is a natural one but our unity with Him is through His grace.
Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)