There was no chapter and verse divisions in the Old Testament when the New Testament was written. See Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? @GQM. Without these divisions, if we want to refer to John 3:16, we would have to say something along this line, “Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus?” or “Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘For God so loved the world…’”
And that’s how Jesus did it,
“even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (KJV)
“But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’” (NKJV)
Jesus couldn’t say Exodus 3:6 because chapter and verse divisions didn’t exist. Thanks to Stephen Langton, we can now easily point people back to the burning bush passage, or to that famous saying Jesus told Nicodemus! With these divisions it makes Bible studying, searching, and referencing a lot easier, even helps with Scripture memorization. However, there are a few problems…