Did Jesus supposedly cleanse the Temple at the end of his ministry as depicted in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, or at the beginning as depicted in John? Some implausibly claim there were two cleansings. Hilarious.
The Temple complex covered about 35 acres (roughly 14 hectares). Josephus (Antiquities 15.11.3; War 5.5.2) describes its vast courts, capable of holding tens of thousands of pilgrims. Merchants and moneychangers were dispersed across the outer court (“Court of the Gentiles”), not in one clustered area as seen above. A single individual overturning all their tables would be implausible on a large scale because, well, soldiers would have shut it down.
Roman troops were stationed in the nearby Antonia Fortress, overlooking the Temple (Josephus, War 5.5.8). Normally, Jerusalem was garrisoned by a cohort (≈ 500–600 Roman soldiers). At major feasts like Passover, Josephus reports that Roman governors reinforced Jerusalem with additional troops, sometimes up to several thousand (Josephus, War 2.224–231).
The Temple also had its own police force (Levite guards). Estimates range from a few dozen on duty at any given time to hundreds available during festivals. Any significant disruption—especially in festival season when tensions ran high—would likely draw immediate intervention.
For one man to physically expel “all” sellers and animals would have been virtually impossible without swift suppression. No one even bothers to question the plausibility and usually default to "well it WAS possible, so there!" Possible but not plausible. It's possible you'll win the lottery, but not plausible IF YOU'RE HONEST.
In short: on a literal level, the entire Temple market could not plausibly have been cleared by one man under heavy guard. It's a made up story.
Caption this Meme