I have a funky issue like this this with both my doors. From what I can tell, there is a Z shaped bracket that goes on the lock cylinder that the rods attach to. Sometimes that Z shaped bracket gets a little out of shape and binds when the rod pushes or pulls against it. Maybe as the plastic connectors age and flex. Not sure.
For me, the passenger door only locks from the inside, will unlock from outside and inside. Driver door only locks and unlocks from outside... I basically don't ever lock it because, really the windows are made from vinyl half the year anyway.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/finally-fixed-my-stuck-door-lock.45178/
View attachment 585944
I think you can get by giving this bracket some "influencing".